reddeadfandomcom-20200223-history
John Marston
is a Central character and main protagonist of Red Dead Redemption. Biography Early Life John Marston was born in 1873. His father was an illiterate Scottish immigrant, his mother was a prostitute who died during childbirth. John's father was blinded in both eyes during a bar fight in Chicago. In 1881, John's father died of unknown causes, thought to be by drink. John was only 8 years old at the time and was sent to an orphanage where he lived most of his life up to the age of 17 in 1890 and met his future wife, Abigail, with whom he promptly ran away; both later joined Dutch's gang, where Dutch took care of John, teaching him how to read, shoot, and the ways of the West. Early Career John Marston is a former outlaw and bandit. He ran with Dutch Van Der Linde, Bill Williamson, and Javier Escuella, committing bank robberies, train raids, murders and other various crimes across the country. According to Marston, the gang stole and fought for a reason. In stealing from the rich and those who were given too much to give to the poor, they wanted to elicit change in the people of the West, although this might just be his own justification for their actions. After being seriously wounded in a bank robbery in 1908, and was left to die by Bill Williamson and his other former brothers in arms, Marston sought to retire from the outlaw lifestyle. Putting his past deeds behind him, he disappeared along with his wife Abigail Marston and young son Jack and purchased himself a ranch. Between his abandonment of the gang and the beginning of the game, Marston had a daughter, but she died of cholera. Despite Marston's apparent reformation, he remains a masterful gunman, rider, and hunter. Marston is a rugged survivalist and knows life as a fight to survive; he adheres to the old-fashioned West, in a world rapidly experiencing the advancement of technology. Cars, and gattling guns. Red Dead Redemption As the old American Wild West is being tamed by encroaching technological advances; such as railroads, telegram offices, and stricter law enforcement, the federal government creates the Bureau of Investigation to aid in the process, headed by Edgar Ross. One of their major goals is to rid the region of all of the violent gangs running wild and unchallenged, especially that of Bill Williamson's. Edgar decides to use an ex-associate of Williamson's to hunt him down: former outlaw John Marston. By kidnapping John's wife and son, Edgar forces him to comply. After leaving the region for unknown reasons, John arrives by ferry and is escorted by Edgar Ross and Archer Fordham through the town of Blackwater, then sent off by train to Armadillo. Once there, John is led by a man named Jake to the gates of Fort Mercer, Bill and his gang's main hideout. In confronting his old friend, Marston tries to reason with Williamson in giving up peacefully, but this alone results in a rifle bullet to the ribs by one of Bill's men. Bonnie MacFarlane and her ranch hand Amos find John left-for-dead on the side of the road and pick him up. After treating his wounds, Bonnie provides John lodging with the condition of helping her around on her ranch. .]] John works off his debt of $15 and his life to Bonnie and her father Drew MacFarlane, but after Bill has found out that John survived and is staying at the MacFarlane Ranch, he has his gang burn the barn down. John also works with and helps US Marshal Leigh Johnson, merchant Nigel West Dickens, dysfunctional alcoholic Irish and psychotic treasure hunter Seth Briars. After the burning of the ranchhttp://reddead.wikia.com/wiki/The_Burning, John recruits them in planning a "Trojan horse" strategy to attack Fort Mercer. The party successfully raids the fort with Dickens' armored stagecoach, Irish's Gatling gun, Seth's distraction and Johnson's assistance, only to find out that Bill has fled to the Mexican province Nuevo Paraiso with the help of Javier Escuella, a member of Marston's former gang. Irish escorts John south of the border to Nuevo Paraiso, where he meets the region's corrupt provisional governor Colonel Allende and his ruthless subordinate right-hand man Captain De Santa. He is forced to work for them to gain information on Williamson and Escuella. At the same time, John runs into the aging gunslinger Landon Ricketts who teaches him new gunfighting skills. Marston also aids Abraham Reyes and Luisa Fortuna, two revolutionaries working to overthrow Allende. He attempts to extract any information possible from both Allende and Reyes regarding Bill and Javier's whereabouts. Allende however, aware of John's loyalties, betrays him and has his men attempt to kill him. Reyes and his rebels arrive in time and rescue John before he is executed. John then sides with Reyes and joins the rebellion. After killing Captain de Santa, Marston and the rebels lead an attack on Allende's villa. Luisa is gunned down by Allende's men. John and Reyes manage to kill Allende and Williamson, who was seeking shelter and protection from the Mexican Army. John also successfully captures (or kills) Escuella. Reyes and his rebels take over the villa and plan on marching to Mexico's capitol, fighting for revolution. John heads back to Blackwater to meet with Edgar Ross again. Though his business with Williamson and Escuella is over, Ross tells him that he needs to kill Dutch Van Der Linde, former leader of John's old gang, or he will never see his family again. John, along with Ross, Archer Fordham and other Bureau Agents meet in several fights across West Elizabeth against Van Der Linde and his gang of Natives, but he escapes capture or death every time. Marston also works with incompetent Yale Professor Harold MacDougal and Native-American informant Nastas in tracking Dutch down. Eventually, John and the Bureau join the US Army in ambushing Dutch's hideout. He confronts Dutch himself, who warns John that the government will always find a new "monster" to justify their pay. Rather than dying by John's hand, Dutch chooses to commit suicide by falling from a cliff. After the raid, John is released by the government and finally reunites with his family at their ranch in Beecher's Hope. He settles down with his wife Abigail and teen son Jack, along with old family-friend Uncle, and attempts to return to a crime-free life as a farmer with his family. However, as per Dutch's warning, Edgar double-crosses John. He, along with the Bureau and US Army, launches an attack on the Marston ranch. Uncle is killed during the gunfight, while John and son continue holding off the attack. John tells Abigail and Jack to run while he stays behind in the barn to defend them. But in reality, he realizes that the only way to save his family from the government's crosshairs is to lay down his life so they can be free. John sacrifices himself in a desperate last-stand against Ross and his men. After exiting the barn calmly and standing before a large firing-squad, he draws his pistol and takes out as many men as he can until they open fire on him. Still standing, with multiple bullet wounds on his bloody body, he breathes vigorously and drops his revolver, falls to his knees and then eventually collapses to the ground. As Ross watches Marston dying, he is clearly satisfied with knowing that the final member of Dutch's gang is dead. Ross and his men leave the ranch. Abigail and Jack, upon hearing the cease-fire, return to find John's body in a pool of blood. They then proceed to bury him up on top of the hill overlooking the ranch, alongside Uncle. His grave is inscribed "Blessed are the Peacemakers." John's death at the hands of Ross was a poetic end to his life. He sacrificed himself to save his family so they could lead a better life, the reason he sought forgiveness in the first place. Knowing John was dead, Ross wouldn't follow Abigail or Jack so desperately any more, allowing them, and more importantly Jack, to start life fresh; finally gaining Redemption. Sadly, even though he saved his families life, Jack still went on to become an outlaw, gunning down Edgar Ross in the future for killing his father. In 1914, three years after John was killed, Abigail dies from unknown causes. An older Jack, now a mirror image of his father, returns and buries her body up on the hill next to John's grave. From then on, he is playable throughout the remainder of the game; retaining all of his father's weapons, clothes, money, horses, houses and fame/honor. Legacy Eventually, Jack finds Ross, who has retired from the Bureau a glorified hero, and announces he has come to avenge his father. The two duel on the Mexican side of the San Luis River, with Jack killing Ross and causing his body to fall back into the river. However, this same act turns Jack into a murderer, ruining his hopes for a better life and forcing him down the same way of life that his father had so desperately tried to steer him away from, leaving the future of the Marston family in doubt. The legacy of John Marston in the epilogue of RDR leads the viewer to believe that John Marston ends up deceased. However, in the upcoming DLC-pack for RDR, The Undead Nightmare, John Marston is going to be the protagonist. The DLC will take place after John gets back to his family in Beecher's Hope . Murders Committed Quotes ::Main article: John Marston Quotations. Quotes can be found in the link. : Trivia *Marston resembles Red Harlow with his similar scars. *Jack Marston's face has the same scars as his father, caused by a bear. **If you look closely at John's hat, it appears very similar to Red Harlow's, with certain aesthetic differences. *John cannot swim, and will drown in deep waters, similar to many of the protagonists of Rockstar's earlier Grand Theft Auto games. He admits this to Irish during the mission "We Shall Be Together in Paradise". *John is often associated with the city, even though he is a rancher. *John's parents' relationship with each other is left ambiguous; John himself struggled with what to label them. *John's grave marker reads "Blessed are the peacemakers," signifying his long road to redemption and peace for his family in a lawless land. *John can only speak very basic Spanish. While in Mexico, he usually remarks "hola" to NPCs and occasionally shouts in broken Spanish during combat. *John is seen smoking cigarettes during cutscenes, after missions, and while watching a film in the cinema. *John is extremely polite to women. For example, John calls Bonnie MacFarlane "Miss MacFarlane," even after she has asked him to call her "Bonnie." He also does anything possible to keep women safe, even punching Irish to defend two nuns. *In contrast to his politeness to women, John is unafraid to take the moral high-ground when dealing with less than reputable characters, like Irish with his alcoholism and Nigel West Dickens with his swindling of gullible people. *It is left unexplained why John arrives in Blackwater aboard a steamboat if he resides in Beecher's Hope. *John makes mention of his deceased daughter a few times when discussing his family. Her name and the cause of her death is unknown. *John has repeatedly made wise comments toward various characters. If his Honor is low enough, John can insult people by pressing B (Xbox 360) or O (PS3). These insults are a clear example of John's sharp tongue. *Not promising to resolve the problem, John usually answers with "I'll see what I can do." to Strangers after hearing their situation. *Before the game came out, in the trailers, John looked much younger and thin. So did Abigail. But, this was changed due to Jack being nearly a mature man. *John is an incredibly skillful gunman and marksman, with the ability to enter a slow motion like state named Dead Eye. He shares this ability with his son Jack who was trained by John while out hunting, and possesses the same level of hunting and shooting skill. *John is a right eyed shooter as seen in many screenshots where he is aiming. *John actually doesn't have to kill his former gang members as Dutch kills himself, Javier can be captured, and Bill can be shot by Abraham Reyes. *John doesn't have a reflection when looking in mirrors. *John is very similar to Johnny Klebitz, the main protagonist from another RockstarGames game, Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and Damned. Both have a rough voice and background, both rode in a gang and both were betrayed by their gang's leader after they had gone insane and lost their ways. It should also be noted that the antagonists of the Lost and Damned and Red Dead Redemption are both named Bill. (Billy Grey and Bill Williamson). *John's cowboy outfit, along with his hat, can be bought and worn by your PlayStation Home character and Xbox 360 Avatar. Gallery File:John.jpg|John Marston File:Rdr_marston_flashback.jpg|Marston riding with his former mates. File:DaltonsGang.jpg|John, Bill Williamson and Javier Escuella holding up a bank during their gang career File:Rdr_marston's_old_gang.jpg|John with Bill Williamson, Javier Escuella, and Dutch van der Linde in their gang. File:3885417976_efeb5d20ec.jpg|John Marston's artwork Johnandabigail.jpg|John and his wife Mission ExodusInAmerica.jpg|John on the train from Blackwater to Armadillo 800px-Reddeadcamp.jpg|John at a campsite. 300px-Throwing_knife.jpg|John wielding a throwing knife Redemtion.jpg|Concept art mr marston.jpg|Marston in the sunset red-dead-redemption-1.jpg|John fighting red-dead-redemption-3.jpg|John Marston by Rio Bravo Marstoncliff.jpg|Marston reloading the Cattleman Revolver Poor_poor_bandito.jpg|John facing a Bandito cowardJohn.jpg|John boldly outruning a bullet First-Look-At-Red-Dead-Redemption.jpg|John Marston running away from an explosion. Rdr the burning.jpg|John entering a burning barn. john marston in tumbleweed.jpg|John in Tumbleweed john marston 1.jpg|John about to attack a wagon Sharps 1874 RDR 3.jpg|John with the Buffalo Rifle. File:Rdr_john_marston01.jpg|Impersonating a Treasure Hunter rdr_john_marston02.jpg|Playing Treasure Hunter John-Marston-with-rifle.png|John using a scoped rifle. File:Rdr_john_marston03.jpg|John fires his revolver Rdr horse08.jpg|Taking the scenic route. File:Rdr_john_marston04.jpg|In front of Mercado del Sol rdr_john_marston05.jpg|Pointing his pistol rdr_john_marston06.jpg|More pointing of pistols rdr_john_marston07.jpg|Somehow wearing the bureau outfit rdr_john_marston08.jpg|Reloadin' his shotty rdr_john_marston09.jpg|Pointin' his shotty rdr_john_marston10.jpg|John, in style rdr_john_marston11.jpg|Uh oh, empty pistol Thee John Marston.jpg|John aims at an unknown enemy Guess Who.jpg|John with a stylin' blue tie Camp Fire.jpg|Sittin' by the fire rdr_marston_stalks.jpg rdr_marston_hostage_rescue.jpg reddeadredemption_marstonwanted_1024x768.jpg|One of pre-release artworks showing John holding a wanted poster with himself on it reddeadredemption_marston3_1024x768.jpg|Another pre-release artwork of John Rdr undead bears01.jpg|Face-to-face with infected bear in Undead Nightmare DLC. Zombies below.jpg|John escaping from zombies to the silo. reddeadredemption_undeadnightmare_zombiemarston_1024x768.jpg|"Undead John" artwork mypictr_Custom.jpg|John Marston es:John Marston it:John Marston Marston, John Category:Redemption characters Category:Red Dead Redemption Category:Marston Family Category:Protagonists Category:Central Characters Category:Multiplayer characters